Journey Beyond Your Imagination
by PrincezzShortie
Summary: A deadly illnesshas swept Hogwarts and the old prophecy reveals that only two people can save the school and entire Wizarding World from certain disaster. Harry is in his 7th and final year at Hogwarts.
1. Default Chapter

Chapter One: Meet The Granger's

By: Taylor 

Harry was awoken in the early hours of the morning by a loud screeching noise coming from the street below. He groaned and rolled over trying to block the sound of tires squealing. Dudley, who had last summer received a car, had still, in over a year of practise, not yet mastered the ability to pull out of number 4's drive quietly. 

"Oh, alright I'm up!" Harry gave in finally and rolled out of bed and stumbled to his wardrobe. It hadn't exactly been the perfect night. After a large row with the Dursley's the previous evening he had stormed up to his room without dinner and had refused to come down. With an empty stomach and a hot head he fallen into an uneasy slumber, having nightmares about Lord Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew torturing him for information. 

He clumsily pulled on some clothes and tromped down the stairs into the Dursley's kitchen. There Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were discussing in quiet voices no doubt about him. Harry paid them no mind however and headed to the stove where some bacon was sizzling. He made himself a plate and started to head back upstairs to his room, "Exactly where do you think you're going?" Uncle Vernon's booming voice echoed against the kitchen walls. 

"Up to my room, I'd rather not eat here." Harry said coolly. 

"You'll eat here or you won't eat anywhere!" said Uncle Vernon. 

"Is that so?" said Harry stepping up to his Uncle who recoiled slightly. Harry was not the scrawny little boy he once was. Fully grown at age 16, he stood a full 190 centimetres and hovered about Vernon Dursley. They said nothing so he continued upstairs to his room. 

He was half way finished with his breakfast when Hedwig flew in through the open window. "Hello, Girl." Harry said untying a rolled up piece of parchment from her leg and giving her a piece of his bacon. It was a letter from Hermione which read:

__

Dear Harry,

How are you? I do hope you are doing okay. I am doing quite well myself. I was wondering if you had any other summer plans because Ron and Ginny are coming to my house on Saturday to spend the rest of summer holiday. I would really love if you could be here as well. Ask your relatives. 

I can have my father pick you up if necessary. I'm not sure the Dursley's would be too keen to drive you here. I really hope you'll be able to make it. Please send Hedwig back as soon as possible. I need to know soon so we can make sleeping arrangements. Hope to see you soon. 

Love Always,

Hermione 

PS- Ron seems to think I'll be made Head Girl. I do hope he is right but I don't want to get my hopes up! 

Harry chuckled to himself as he pulled out a fresh piece of parchment and a quill to respond. He would've been extremely surprised if she did not make Head Girl. She had received 15 O.W.L's and was the top of her class in every subject she took. 

He wondered how he should approach the Dursley's with this offer. He had just been blatantly rude to them and then to turn around and ask to go to his muggle-born friend's house. That was it…muggle-born. He would simply tell the Dursley's he was to spend the rest of the summer with his friend Hermione and that her muggle father would pick him up. 

***

"…So you are positive that this girls father will be able to pick you up and that he is normal?" Uncle Vernon questioned apprehensively two hours later down in the kitchen. After sending out his reply to Hermione he had practised what he would say to Uncle Vernon to ensure his permission to go. 

"Yes, and he will be driving a regular car and will not be entering through the fireplace." 

"Well…" Vernon started, Harry knew that the wheels in his head were turning, "That seems to be alright but only under the condition that if her father arrives any other way besides car or other normal transportation that I will not permit you to go. Understood?" 

"Yes, Uncle Vernon." Harry replied though he secretly thought it was rather bold of his Uncle to talk to him like a child but resisted the urge to tell him off as it would lead to yet another row. 

***

It was Saturday morning and Hermione had responded happily that her father would be at 4 Privet Drive at 11 o'clock sharp. If Mr. Granger was anything like his daughter he could expect him to be on time. That he was…when the clock that sat on the Dursley's mantle struck 11 a car could be heard coming up the drive. 

"He's here!" Petunia called to her husband who had been pacing the hallway. 

Uncle Vernon waited until the doorbell rang to answer, "Hello, my name is Vernon Dursley and I am Harry's Uncle." 

"Yes," said Mr. Granger. He was a medium sized man of slim proportion with dark hair and kind brown eyes like his daughter, he wore a pressed suit and shiny black shoes. Even Uncle Vernon couldn't find anything wrong with his appearance. "I've heard all about you…. Hello there Harry, doing all right?" 

"Yes, sir." said Harry timidly only seeing the man once before in Diagon Alley in his second year. 

"I'll help you with your trunk," said Vernon before Mr. Granger could offer. Most people who see this as a sign of warmth towards Harry, but he knew very well he only wanted to get a glimpse of Mr. Granger's car. 

In the driveway sat a sparkling-clean, silver BMW Z3 with the top down. Uncle Vernon could only gape in awe until he suddenly remembered himself and replied as he dragged Harry's heavy trunk to the bonnet of the car. "That's quite a nice car." 

"Yes, I enjoy it." Mr. Granger replied with a wink towards Harry. As they pulled out of the drive Dudley came screeching up. A look of horror on his face to see Harry driving away in a convertible. He could only laugh. 

***

"Debbie, my wife, wanted me to take the station wagon but Hermione begged me to take my company car after telling me that your relatives were always trying to outdo everyone." Mr. Granger laughed. 

"I really want to thank you, Mr. Granger for…" Harry began.

"Please, Harry, call me Tony. I have heard so much about you and you…_erm_…relatives." Tony said with a slight chuckle. 

"Oh," Harry laughed, "I'm assuming that Hermione told you all about them." 

"Yes she did, now Harry, I'm not meaning to sound like the over-whelming Father here but I've got to do my job, please…"

"Oh, Mr. Grang…I, I mean Tony, I don't like Hermione in that way…I mean she's very pretty of course, its just that…well…I don't like her in that way…I mean I could, she's very nice…its just that she not really my type…not that, that's a bad…" but Mr. Granger cut him off with a chortle. 

"You didn't let me finish, Harry. I was going to say please keep this 'Ron' under control, the way Hermione talks about him…not that she doesn't talk about you as well!" He finished a little awkwardly.

"I understand completely," Harry laughed. The rest of the ride was very enjoyable. Harry and Mr. Granger got on very well and he even asked Harry to explain Quidditch a bit more. 'Hermione must not talk about it much.' Harry laughed to himself. 

Two hours later they were pulling up to the Granger's house. Harry looked at it in awe, it was exactly how you would picture a house that Hermione would live in. White, with a huge wrap-around porch and large windows opening into the sitting room. 'Ron must be a bit jealous' thought Harry, the place was huge, he could not help feeling a bit envious himself, however before he could think anymore a brown hair girl was zooming out of the front door and giving Harry a huge hug.

"Oh Harry, I've missed you!" She explained. She had matured quite a bit since their sixth year. On the porch stood Ron Weasley who had grown even taller than Harry and…

"Ginny," Harry breathed. She looked beautiful. Her red hair hung down her back and her eyes sparkled in the summer sun. How had he missed her stunning beauty before now. 

"Hey Harry!" Ginny said excitedly punching him in the arm in a friendly fashion. 

'Wow,' thought Harry, she definitely isn't as shy as she was last year! "Hey Ginny, how has your summer been?" he asked with a smile. 

"Oh you know the usual, Fred and George blew up a toilet or two and Percy strutted around like he owns the place. What's new in the Weasley family?" Ginny laughed at her strange but lovable family. 

"That's right, Percy was made Head of the Department of International Cooperation…right?" he asked

"Don't remind me!" She said half exasperatedly 

"Are you going to say hello to your best friend?" Ron asked with a sheepish grin. 

"Of course. Hey Ron! How has your summer been going?" Harry asked with a slight blush, he hoped that Ron hadn't noticed his total interest in his little sister.

"It's been great! But, I have missed you and Hermione. I needed some sanity, my family was driving me nuts! And of course Ginny had to come along." Ron smirked

"HEY!!!" she shouted. 

"Ginny, I was just joking." 

"Let's go inside," said Hermione.

***

"…and this will be the room where Ron and Harry will sleep." Hermione said as she led them into a room with a large bed with a pink floral pattern and wicker furniture. 

"Its pink!" Ron gaped with an open mouth. 

"Well of course its pink Ron, my mum likes the colour."

"But…but its, PINK!" he exclaimed again. 

"Well it's either this or the couch because you can't sleep in my room, that's where me and Ginny are sleeping." Hermione said, clearly annoyed. 

"Ron, it'll be fine, its just a bed!" Harry broke in, obviously not wanting to witness an argument break out between his two friends on the first day. 

"Well…okay, it we have to." grumbled Ron, dropping his trunk on the floor.

Harry followed sync and then listened to the rest of Hermione's tour, "You can sleep here, and the bathroom is out in the hall," she showed them into a bathroom which to Harry's great relief was not pink, but rather a butter yellow. "This is my room." Hermione said and she showed them into a room across the hall, that clearly said, 'Hermione.'

The room was a light lavender colour, with an oak bookcase, each shelf filled with books, both wizard and muggle Harry noticed. A desk sat in the corner with her school books placed neatly on top and her homework next to that. There was also a window sill, large enough for a person to sit on, with a book on top which lay open. "Oh Hermione, I love your room!" Ginny squealed. 

"Thanks, my mum helped me decorate. She has surprisingly good taste for a dentist!" Hermione and Ginny giggled. 

"Girls," muttered Ron shaking his head, "Come on Harry, let's go to our room."

"Yeah." Harry nodded and they left the two girls laughing and headed for their room. 

***

"Thanks for dinner Mrs. Granger, it's delicious." Harry commented on the truly, well-cooked dinner. 

"Thanks you Harry, dear I'm glad you enjoyed it. Did you also know that it's good for your teeth? Dr. Cynzer clearly mentions it in his book…" Mrs. Granger began sounding much like Hermione when she got off on an idea.

Tony coming to the rescue of his daughter whose face was as red as Ron's hair, "Debbie, dear. I'm sure that Hermione's friends aren't interested in our dentistry."

"Actually Mrs. Granger, I would love hear more about your work," Ron smiled. Harry knew very well that Ron had no interest in their place of work at all, rather he wanted to find any chance to embarrass Hermione. Unluckily for Ron, Hermione also knew what he was up to and kicked him hard in the shins. "Owww!!!!" he yelped. 

"Well," said Mrs. Granger obviously not noticing Ron's scream of pain, "We own a small dentist office about 23.5 minutes away called, Cavity Clinic, we started the business about 3 years before Hermione…" she rambled on. 

"Yeah mum, very touching. Shall we get some dessert?" Hermione said as she ushered Ron, Harry, and Ginny into the Granger's kitchen. 

As they walked into the kitchen, which was separate from the dining room, Hermione breathed a huge sigh of relief. "My mum is sooo embarrassing. Does anyone want any ice cream or something?" 

"YEAH!" Ron shouted. "I mean, yeah, that would be great." 

Hermione gave him a withering glance before pulling 4 bowls from the cupboard and pulling out the ice cream from the icebox. As she scooped it into the bowls Harry noticed that she had put noticeably less ice cream into Ron's bowl. He looked like he wanted to say something but Ginny gave him a hard look. 

***

After watching, _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_, which Ron pointed out constantly, "That man looks _just_ like Nearly Headed Nick! Wicked…" before Hermione told him to shush because he was ruining the film. Harry thought this was extremely unfair on Hermione's part as her and Ginny were laughing madly the entire time. 

"Hermione, I liked the film and all, but it doesn't exactly seem like the kind of story that you would enjoy. I thought you liked deeper, thought provoking stuff." Harry said after the film was over. 

Hermione who was still laughing and quoting lines at the same time mustered up enough air to say, "Well, it is thought provoking…in a way and well it is very funny and there are some _very_ good actors in the film." Hermione and Ginny burst into a fit of giggles for reasons unapparent to neither Ron or Harry. 

"Girls," Ron muttered for the second time today. 

"Well I don't know about you two but me and Hermione are ready for bed, night guys." Ginny stated ten minutes later. Everyone said their goodnights and headed upstairs. 

***

Long after the boys had been asleep the girls were still awake talking in hushed whispers on Hermione's bed, giggling all the while. 

"So," Hermione began, "Who do you think is the cutest on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team?" 

"Harr…" Ginny began

"Besides Harry!" laughed Hermione

"Well, Dylan Murin, you know, one of the Beaters, he's really cute…I think he fancies me a bit." 

"You should go for it!" Hermione insisted

"I couldn't, I don't like him that way." 

"Why not?"

"Because, he's cute and funny but he is a bit dim. He is not deep at all." 

"Maybe he is deep, maybe he just hasn't shown his true colours…" Hermione began

"No Hermione, he isn't trust me, he isn't like…like…Harry." Ginny blushed crimson. 

"So that's what this is all about…your still in love with Harry?" 

"Yes," Ginny giggled admittedly

"Now don't take this the wrong way or anything but why do you like Harry so much?" 

"He is deep, thought provoking, and well…handsome. I know that handsome part sounds a bit shallow but its true. There's another thing but I can't explain it exactly, it's the same feeling I had when I first met Harry at Kings Cross Station, the same feeling I have every time I look at him or think about it. It intensified in my first year after he saved my life. There is like…some sort of…bond between us that I can't put into words, I can't even comprehend what it is entirely." 

"Wow Ginny, you really have something special going on with Harry, I wonder if it's a prophecy or something."

Ginny snorted, "I thought you didn't believe in prophecy's or divination or anything like that." 

"I don't," Hermione said, "Well I don't believe in most of them as they are usually just an excuse to get everyone worried and more excited then they were before. Some prophecies, however, are true. There was one about…." but she broke off awkwardly as if she wished she hadn't said anything. 

"About the what?" Ginny questioned but Hermione simply shook her head, "Oh come on Hermione now you _have_ to tell me! Please!" Ginny gave her puppy dog eyes. 

"No, Ginny, not right now. I will tell you later…I promise." she said seriously

"Okay fine!" Ginny said in mock anger. 

"Okay! Ginny we really need to get some sleep though its already 2 am." 

As they got ready for bed they giggled and quoted Monty Python," they said goodnight and went to sleep. Well at least Hermione went to sleep, Ginny stayed awake and thought about what this prophecy might be. 

Finally after 2 hours of tossing and turning with sleep no anywhere insight she slowly edged her way out of bed and went over to Hermione's desk where a pile of books lay. She pulled the top book off without bothering to look at its title and headed downstairs into the sitting room where _Monty Python and the Holy Grail _still lay on the floor next to the television. 

Ginny sat down on the couch and turned on the light and opened the book it was, _Hogwarts: A History_. 'The book can't be _that_ bad if Hermione can stand to read it 10 times.' Ginny thought to herself and she opened the books and began to read:

__

Hogwarts was founded over a 1000 years ago by the four greatest wizards of the time

"Blah, blah, blah!" Ginny moaned, "How can Hermione stand this?" and Ginny tossed the book onto the ground where it lay open to the, "Chamber of Secrets…" Ginny whispered. 

It had been five years since she had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets by Tom Riddle but the memory was still fresh in her mind as if it had been yesterday. 

__

"Oh Tom, what are you doing to me?" an 11 year-old Ginny whimpered. 

"Oh I'm not doing anything little Ginny." Tom Riddle said in a malicious way, "You know it's you, who has done all these crimes. You petrified your own friends, you may have even killed them, and it's all your fault."

"No! I didn't do it, I didn't mean to. I promise." Ginny screamed

"Yes, you meant it." Tom barked at her, "You were jealous of that mud-blood, Hermione, she is friends with your lover boy, Harry, you wanted to get her out of the way so you could get to Harry." 

"NO I DIDN'T! I DIDN'T!" Ginny screamed her voiced echoing off the stone walls of the Chamber of Secrets. 

"Just admit it, it will make everything better if you would just admit it…admit that you may have killed them. That you may have killed Harry Potter's best friend!"

"I didn't do it!" but Ginny was becoming weaker and weaker the chamber was spinning around her, "I didn't do it…I swear I didn't do…I swear." She could hear Tom laughing, his laughing was so close, so loud. 

"Oh little Ginny, all the mistakes you've made, if you had only been a good girl, but you had to go fooling around in other's people's business, all for Harry Potter. He's coming for you now, he might even get killed. You might be the girl who killed the famous Harry Potter." 

"No! No. No…he won't die. He won't…." But the room had dissolved into blackness and Ginny's small body hit the stone floor unconscious.

"No, I didn't do it. I swear I didn't mean to…" she moaned, she was on the Granger's couch. It had been a dream just an awful dream. 

Harry had just walked into the room, his scar had woken him up. It wasn't the first time, since the end of his fourth year his burning scar had been a regular occurrence. When he had walked into the sitting room and seen Ginny on the couch clutching her head it had scared him to death. He didn't know why it scared him so bad. If he had thought about it reasonably he would've known it was just a nightmare. 

Suddenly her arms fell limp beside her. Harry didn't know if she had fainted or if the nightmare had simply ended. He didn't want to wait to find out, he reached the couch and shook her slowly but his voice was urgent, "Ginny wake up! Ginny open your eyes!" 

She mumbled slowly then her eyes opened, "What? Harry is that you?" 

"Yeah, its me, are you Okay? What happened…did you pass out?" Harry asked concerned.

"No, no. I was reading about the…the Chamber of Secrets and I had some…well flashbacks I guess. But Harry, it was so scary, I haven't been that scared since…since well it actually happened," Ginny said, sitting up, she looked as if she was on the verge of tears. 

Harry sat down beside her, "I know what you're going through. That was scary for me too. I thought you were going to die. I thought I was going to die, I even thought maybe Hermione might die. All because of Voldemort." Ginny shuttered slightly at the name but overlooked it and Harry continued, "Everything has happened because of him, my parents are dead because of him. Cedric Diggory died at 17 because of Voldemort. You were almost killed because of Voldemort. We need to stop him, he can't kill anyone else. I can't lose anyone else…I couldn't lose you, or Ron, or Hermione. I just couldn't, we can't let it happen." 

"We won't," Ginny said softly, she looked into Harry's brilliant green eyes, "Don't worry about it, worrying doesn't help any. We'll get through this, we'll get through this." 

"I hope your right Ginny, I really do hope you're right." He looked down at Ginny and noticed that she had fallen asleep. He pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and lay it softly on Ginny. 

'Am I falling in love?' thought Harry to himself. 'No, I can't be, it's Ron's sister, she's just a friend. Yeah, just a friend.' he reassured himself and headed back up the stairs just as the sun was peaking over the horizon and got back into bed and slept until Ron was hitting him in the arm.

"Oh come on Harry wake up. Breakfast is ready. Oh come on if you don't get up right now I'm going to bleed on you!" He yelled.

"Okay, Okay I'm up. But only on one condition." Harry said with a grin.

"What's that?" 

"Never use the phrase, 'I'll bleed on you' again."

"Fine," Ron laughed, "It sounded pretty good though…right?" 

"Heh…no." 

***

It was the Saturday before they were to leave for school and they were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast and laughing when an owl swooped in dropping 3 letters to Ron, Harry, and Ginny and one parcel to Hermione. 

"I will never get used to that!" Mrs. Granger said with a shaky laugh. 

It was quiet while everybody read their letters, with the exception of Hermione who was reading her parcel. Suddenly she let out a shriek and started to jump up and down, crying and laughing all at once. "I MADE IT! I'M HEAD GIRL! I'M HEAD GIRL!"

Ginny was the first to respond she jumped up and hugged Hermione while they jumped together. It had taken Ron and Harry a moment to comprehend what she was actually saying. It suddenly struck him and Ron at the same time and they got up and congratulated Hermione.

"I knew you would make Head Girl. I told you! I told you!" Ron said excitedly. 

"Congratulations, Hermione!" Harry said, he on the inside however was not surprised in the least. He had known that Hermione would be made Head Girl. It was absurd to think otherwise. 

Harry felt a small pang of disappointment that he, himself had not been made Head Boy. Not that he had really expected it, or even hoped for that. It was a small unnoticeable thought in the back of his head that had been sitting there like a sort of blind ambition that he had longed for in his years at Hogwarts self-consciously. To show that he wasn't just a famous pretty boy. That he had real talent and that he could make something of himself. 

Harry looked over and saw that Ron had a slightly disappointed look as well. He knew that Ron had always longed to be Head Boy. He had found that out in his very first year, in the Mirror of Erised, Ron had seen himself as a Head Boy. Harry knew that Ron had wished to be someone unique outside of his family. He had wanted to be recognised as, Ronald Weasley, not 'just another Weasley'. Harry felt suddenly sorry for his friend who had never known what it was like to be known for himself and not categorized when they heard his surname. 

It was evident why Hermione had received a parcel instead of a letter. In it contained her Head Girl Badge, and a thick instruction book on how to act in the position of Head Girl. "This is such an honour." Hermione kept saying to herself again and again. 

"I wonder who the Head Boy is?" asked Ron, "Do you know Hermione?" 

"Not a clue...it's odd. You would've thought that they would tell me wouldn't you?" 

"As long as it's not Malfoy I really don't care." Harry commented with a grimace. "Imagine him as Head Boy."

"Well, I highly doubt that Dumbledore would let him be Head Boy when they know who his father is." Hermione said knowledgeably.

"Well I don't know." Ron said uncertainly, "Malfoy's Dad has a pretty big influence on everyone. Especially since he has his _connections_."

"Oh get off it Ron, Malfoy probably isn't Head Boy so let's just enjoy the rest of our summer holiday. Oh by the way, Dad, can we take the car down to London so we can get our school supplies today?" Hermione asked her father.

"Sure, drive safe and don't spend all your money on…_books._" Her father laughed glancing at Ron who constantly teased Hermione on reading too much. 

"Very funny, extremely witty!" she said, though she wasn't really mad at all. 

"Oh and dear. Please be home in time for dinner, I'm making your favourite! Mashed potatoes and pork chops."

"Thanks Mum." Hermione said as they walked out the door. 

"Thanks Mrs. Granger!" Ron chimed in. 

Ginny and Harry stole a smile at each other at Ron's never ending appetite and climbed into the station wagon for their trip to London.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I've been working on this story for many months now and I already have completed 7chapters and I am working right now on the 8th. I need to thank my beta-reader, Agi (FF.net penname: Agivega) for sticking with me the entire time and taking the time and effort to read and correct my errors. I also need to give her credit for helping me with the title of my story. I am planning on releasing a chapter once a week so you know that they should be pretty consistent. Also if you would like to e-mail me at PrincezzShortie@aol.com I would be more than happy to e-mail you with reminders of when new chapters are posted. Thanks again for everything! I hope you enjoyed the story. Please review! J 

Disclaimer: HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia and WARNER BROS.,  
shield logo and related indicia are trademarks of Warner Bros. TM & © 2002.  
Harry Potter Publishing Rights © JK Rowling.   



	2. Dressrobes and Dreams

Dress Robes and Dreams

The ride into London had been uneventful unless you counted Ron constantly pestering Hermione, "Are you _sure_ you know the way to London?"

"YES Ron!" Hermione finally snapped, "Do you think that I am stupid enough to drive around aimlessly hoping to end up in London?" Ginny chuckled slightly. 

"Ron, cool it." Harry said under his breath. He knew Hermione was near the breaking point and that Ron was seeing how far he could push it. He didn't know how much longer Hermione would last and he frankly didn't want to find out. 

Ron kept his mouth shut for the remainder of the journey while Ginny and Hermione jabbered on about dress robes or something of the sort. Harry's eyes had long glazed over and he sat looking out the window at the scenery whizzing by. After three long hours in the car they finally had reached London and Harry snapped out of his semi-conscious slump. He prodded Ron who had fallen asleep, and after finding a spot in the car park they clambered out of the car and started heading towards the Leaky Cauldron. 

"Whoa," Ron said in awe, "What is that place?"

"That's Buckingham Palace, Ron, honestly you should've really taken Muggle Studies!" Hermione said matter-of-factly. 

After walking around for a quarter of an hour they reached the Leaky Cauldron and walked into the dark and murky pub. It was crowed as usual and smelt of smoke and liquor. 

"Hallo there!" Tom, the owner shouted at Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron. They smiled and head to the small courtyard in the back of the pub. It looked the same as it had the first time Harry had set foot there, with only a dustbin and few straggly weeds. Hermione walked up to the dustbin and whipped out her wand. She tapped a single brick three times and the wall suddenly quivered and started shifting until there was a archway that led into Diagon Alley. 

Gringott's bank loomed in the foreground. It seemed to be swaying gently in the wind and Harry had to remind himself that it was held up by magic. Even after seven years in the magical community he still had to remind himself of things of that sort. 

After they had each cashed some money out of Gringott's they separated to buy their books and other supplies. Ginny went with Hermione and Harry with Ron. Harry was secretly happy that Ron and Hermione were finally separated. They had been bickering non stop since Harry had arrived at the Granger household. He didn't know what Ron's problem was. He had never argued this much with Hermione before….

***

Ginny and Hermione had finished buying their school supplies and were having an ice cream when they saw Professor Trelawney across the way sitting at a small table with a deck of cards and a crystal ball perched atop. 

"What is she doing here?" Ginny asked Hermione.

"Who cares. She is a crazy old bat." Hermione said.

"I care!" Ginny said, "I want to find out why the 'crazy old bat' is working in Diagon Alley. 

"Fine, we'll go ask." Hermione said, with a slight chuckle she added, "Maybe she got fired from Hogwarts."

"We will never know until we ask." Ginny said with a grin and they walked across the cobble stoned road to the table where Trelawney sat. 

"Hello Ms. Weasley!" Professor Trelawney said recognising Ginny, she noticed Hermione and added with a slight scowl on her face, "Ms. Granger." 

"Hello," Ginny said brightly, "We were wondering what you were doing here, running this…" she looked down at the sign on the table which read: 

Sibyll Trelawney's Physic Readings 

15 sickles a reading.

__

"…Physic reading location." 

"I have come to work in Diagon Alley." 

"Obviously." Hermione said sarcastically 

"What she meant," Ginny said, nudging Hermione, "Was, _why_, are you working in Diagon Alley. You weren't fired from Hogwarts were you?"

"Oh, no dear." Professor Trelawney said airily, "I was gazing into my crystal ball at the beginning of the summer term when I saw myself abandoning my job at Hogwarts to become a seer in Diagon Alley. So, naturally I gave Albus Dumbledore my resignation and got my job here." 

This time even Ginny could not suppress her giggles. "So, you just quit because you saw it in your crystal ball?" 

"Not exactly like that." Sibyll said, her voice not quite so airy this time. "I saw it in the crystal ball and then the fates informed me." 

Hermione snickered, "Oh those fates, they'll do it to you every time."

Trelawney gave them a hard look and replied coldly, "If you do not wish to have a reading please clear away, other's are waiting." 

Ginny and Hermione bid Professor…or rather, 'Seer Trelawney' goodbye and walked away breaking into peals of laughter that the old witch must've heard. 

***

"Whaddya' reckon Harry?" Ron asked as he tried on a bright orange dress robe, in _Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions_, which was required for their graduation at Hogwarts. 

"Um…" Harry said, orange was not the best colour for Ron, it clashed horribly with his ginger hair, "Maybe something a bit…calmer?" 

"Yeah, you're right." Ron said, "I was going for the 'Chudley Cannon's' look but it obviously doesn't go well with me." 

"Right," Harry said, relieved that Ron hadn't taken it the wrong way, "So what colour do you think I should go for, red or green?" 

"Definitely the green," Ron said after eyeing them both, "So do you think dark blue would look okay?" 

"Never thought I'd see the day when my brother was spending this much time on buying robes!" Ginny laughed at Ron. Her and Hermione had just entered the shop and were having a good laugh at Harry and Ron. 

"Oh, bug off Gin." he said exasperatedly, "We _have_ to buy these, its not like were doing it for fun." 

The two girls just laughed and headed over to the female section to pick out Hermione's dress robe. 

***

The afternoon had been spent shopping and they were all exhausted and were dreading the car ride home. 

"We could always ring your parents and tell them that we are too tired to drive home." Ginny said hopefully, absent-mindedly twisting her hair.

"That's true." Hermione said slowly, "I know Dad wouldn't mind, he'd rather us get a good night's sleep before driving three hours in the dark. Mum might be a little harder to convince. She'll want us home." 

"You should ask, Hermione." Harry said

"Yeah, ask!" Ron said urging her on. 

"Fine, I'll ring them up, I am going to use the phone in the book shop next door, I'll be back in a minute." she got up and headed out into the darkening street.

She was back, five minutes later with a slight grin across her face. "Dad said it was fine. We can stay the night here." 

"Great!" Ron said happily "I wouldn't want you to fall asleep while you were driving or anything." 

They had a quick supper in the pub then requested two rooms from Tom. They had no sooner put their belonging's away and crawl into bed did they fall asleep.

***

It was in the wee hours of the morning when Harry sat suddenly upright in bed. His scar was burning and he was panting like he had run a marathon. 

"Wha… what's wrong Harry?" Ron said croakily. 

Harry caught his breath and replied, "I had another nightmare I think, my scar is burning like you would not believe." 

Ron was now fully awake, "Your sc… scar hurts Harry? You… you don't think it has something to do with… you-know-who does it?" 

"I dunno," Harry replied truthfully. "Maybe…" 

"Well, try and get some sleep, mate." Ron said as he lay back down. Harry agreed and lay down but it was a long time before the burning stopped and he slowly drifted back to sleep. 

***

The next morning in the pub Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny sat around a small round table eating a quick breakfast. Harry hadn't brought up last night's nightmare with anyone except Ron. He didn't know why he didn't tell it was just a gut feeling inside him that kept him from telling. He figured on the way home he would tell Hermione and Ginny. Suddenly five owls swooped in and delivered copies of, The Daily Prophet, to the occupants of the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione snatched the copy out of the air and began to read the front page when she gasped.

"Oh my Lord." she said in a deadly quiet tone.

"What's wrong?" asked Harry

"There was another muggle killing, this time in France. Listen to the article,"

****

Dark Wizards Invade France

__

Early this morning Dark Wizards presumed to be you-know-who's Deatheaters invaded a muggle community in a small town in France. 22 muggles were killed and at least 30 seriously injured. When the Ministry's very own Auror's stepped in to help end the deadly situation one was killed. Mr Geoffrey Rochester, 64, an Auror for 44 years. His death is a tragic reminder of what you-know-who's follower's are capable of. 

The Ministry of Magic told the Daily Prophet that anyone who may know anything about these muggle killings is urged to contact them via owl as soon as possible. All Deatheaters proven guilty may be sentenced to a life time in Azkaban. We repeat, **ANYTHING**, _you know about these killings should be reported to the Ministry of Magic as soon as possible. _

"That is so awful," Ginny whispered. "I can't believe there are more killings!"

"I know," Hermione said, her voice seemed distant, "Its simply horrid and must be stopped." 

Harry squirmed uncomfortably in his chair, he had to tell his friends about his dream, they deserved to know, "Um, last night I had another nightmare."

"You did?!" Hermione asked snapping out of her distant gaze.

"Oh yeah, I remember that." Ron commented.

"Yeah, well really, early this morning." Harry started, "I can't remember what the dream was exactly but I know it was bad and I woke up and my scar was burning." 

Ginny looked longingly up at Harry and then replied, "Well doesn't that mean something? Isn't you scar some sort of alarm?"

"Yeah…" Harry said slowly. "It could just be a coincidence though." 

"Harry," Hermione began, "You know it wasn't a coincidence. All the signs point to that. I mean think about it logically. Every time you-know-who has ever started to gain power or plot evil things, or for that matter do evil things, your scar always starts to hurt. Last night or early this morning you had a nightmare and your scar started to burn. Well, early this morning Deatheaters invaded that town in France. It all makes sense." 

"I know," Harry gave in, "Your right." 

"Well, maybe we should head back to your house Hermione." Ginny said, pushing her plate towards the centre of the table. 

"Yeah, lets go." she called over Tom and paid him the cheque and they left with their bags to find their car. They reached in the car in good time and were soon out on the road again. 

***

The rest of the week at the Granger's passed without great incident. They enjoyed the warm sunny days and talked about their plans for the future. It was all very blissful. As Harry looked out at the sunset one evening he couldn't imagine how anything bad was going on in the world. It all seemed too beautiful to produce anything evil or wrong. As much as Harry wanted to go back to Hogwarts, his home for the last six years, he couldn't help wanting to stay at the Granger's forever. Everything was so calm and peaceful, nothing to worry about it. Nothing could go wrong here. 

Authors Note: Well, here you go…the second chapter to my story. I decided to post it a little sooner then expected. I hope that you enjoyed it. I'm not sure when the third chapter will be up but I probably soon. It is already written I just haven't decided on a date. 

Disclaimer: HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia and WARNER BROS.,  
shield logo and related indicia are trademarks of Warner Bros. TM & © 2002.  
Harry Potter Publishing Rights © JK Rowling. 


	3. Hogwarts Again

Hogwart's Again

Since their stay in the Leaky Cauldron there had been more muggle attacks. Mostly in France and Spain and one small attack in the Philippines. Everyday the Daily Prophet was filled with stories about the mass killings that You-Know-Who and his followers had committed. Each bore a picture of the Darkmark hanging menacingly in the sky. 

Yet, will all the trouble brewing around in the Wizarding World life at the Granger's went on with relative peace. Their carefree summer days were not hindered by the outside world. Ron never ceased to be amazed by muggle objects like microwaves and aeroplanes. He seems most impressed by the Granger's cine-camera. He was often found recording the happy days spent in the backyard enjoying the fine weather. 

The evening before term started they sat in the den eating a light dessert. "I can't believe that we have to go back to school already." Ron said his mouth full of pastries. 

"Yeah," nodded Harry, secretly he was rather excited to get back to school. It was the only home that he could remember that had happy memory's and he was excited to get back to Quidditch. 

"I am actually quite happy to be getting back to school, going back to classes, and seeing some of our friends." Hermione said brightly, polishing off a raspberry scone. 

"Your only saying that because you're Head Girl and you want to study again." Ron said grumpily. 

"So what if I want to study?!" Hermione said sharply. "You could do a bit more of it your self. Besides we have to start working on our N.E.W.T's, I mean to say that if you expect to get a good job out of Hogwarts you'll need a high score." 

"Oh, bug off Hermione," Ron said running his finger's through his hair, "N.E.W.T's are not until the end-of-the year and we won't have to worry about them for ages."

"Ten months isn't exactly ages Ron, your entire career is going to rest of what you get on your scores."

"Stop lecturing me on my "life career" , Hermione!" Ron snapped, "Besides, it's going to be our last year at Hogwarts, well besides you Ginny," he said gesturing to Ginny, "In 7th year you always have to have a bit of fun."

Hermione looked as if she had something to say to that but Ginny cut in abruptly changing the subject, "So are you three excited about learning how to apparate next summer?" 

"Yeah!" Harry said, he then added, "It'll be so nice to be able to apparate to Hagrid's hut and visit him on the grounds." He knew very well that Hermione would soon go in to her automatic speech.

"Harry!" Hermione gasped, taken aback, "You know as well as I do that you can't apparate or disparate on the Hogwart's grounds!" she hadn't noticed that the three of them were snickering wildly. 

"I was joking Hermione! You've drilled us on that since our first year." he said trying to suppress his laughter. 

They retired fairly early to finish the rest of their packing. Both Ron and Harry had to stand on Hermione's trunk so they she could close it.

"What do you have in here?!" Ron questioned after standing on the trunk for five minutes. 

She finally managed to snap the lock shut and said, slightly out of breath, "Oh you know the usual. Books, robes, and other assorted supplies."

"So in other words," said Harry as he climbed off the trunk, "Books, books, and more books?" 

Ron laughed and they made their way to the 'pink' room to finish packing their own trunks. They finished and bid good night to the girls and climbed into the bed for the last time before school started again.

***

It was very early on the first of September when Hermione came into their room and 'gently' shook them awake. She finally managed to get Ron and Harry out of bed and pushed a piece of toast in to both of their hands and told them to hurry up because they were running behind schedule. 

There was a mad rush to get all four trunks into the Granger's station wagon and Ginny was moving so fast grabbing all of her things from around the house she seemed little more than a blur of red hair to Harry who seemed to still be half asleep. They had finally managed to get everything out and on the road in good time. It was a good three hour drive to King's Cross Station and they all sunk into a deep stupor. 

"We're here!" Mrs. Granger said cheerfully, her voice has awakened the group from their sleep and they roused clumsily. 

Dragging their trunks to find a trolley was another thing all together. Their sleepy hands were not ready to grip the heavy trunk and Ginny dropped hers on Ron's foot twice. The first time had been purely accidental but when Ron had started to curse loudly Ginny purposely dropped her trunk heavily on his foot again. Hermione giggled sleepily and they bid goodbye to her parents.

"Thank you so much for having us over!" Ginny said giving Hermione's parents a hug. She smiled happily and then disappeared into the barrier.

"Yeah thanks!" Ron said shaking Mr. Granger's hand he turned to Mrs. Granger and said, "Your cooking is great! Thanks for the food." Mrs. Granger laughed and winked back a tear. 

Harry followed suit and shook Mr. Granger's hand thanked both of Hermione's parents for rescuing him from the Dursley's. 

Harry and Ron walked through the barrier separating platforms 9 and 10 while Hermione said good bye to her parents. Her mother was crying freely now and even Hermione was trying to blink back tears. She hugged her father once more and then walked into the barrier where Ginny, Ron, and Harry were waiting. 

***

Fifteen minutes later they had settled in on the Hogwarts Express. Ginny had been scooted off by her friends and was sitting with them so Harry, Hermione, and Ron found themselves a compartment of their own. Harry and Ron started to talk about Quidditch while Hermione became engrossed in one of her many books. 

***

"Do you think that Puddlemere United has a chance against the Ballycastle Bats?" Ron asked while stuffing a chocolate frog into his mouth. 

"No way!" Harry said sounding slightly outraged, "Ballycastle is Ireland's premier Quidditch Team, there is no way that Puddlemere could beat them." 

"Yeah, but Puddlemere has Johannes, he is the best keeper that they have seen in ages."

"True but…." Harry began but Hermione cut them off.

"Do you two talk about anything but Quidditch?" she said shutting her book.

Harry and Ron looked at each other and grinned, "No," 

Hermione shook her head and muttered something that sounded like, "boys."

Harry laughed and continued with what he was saying. 

***

An hour later Hermione had finally convinced them to change subjects, so they had resorted to Ron's next favourite conversational topic, Malfoy Bashing. Harry could tell that this was not Hermione's choice conversation but she didn't seem to mind _too_ much. 

"Malfoy must've had a really hard childhood if he is as mean as he is." Hermione reasoned logically. 

Ron's eyes got huge and he retorted, "Hard childhood my a-"

"RON!" Hermione glared at him. 

"What I meant," he said through clenched teeth, "Was that I don't think that Malfoy had a hard childhood. He was so bloody rich."

"Just because he was rich growing up doesn't mean that he had a good childhood. Look at his father for Merlin's sake, he was and quite possibly is still a Deatheater. Do you know how hard that must've of been for Malfoy growing up. He was probably never even hugged his father." 

Ron gave Hermione the look he always gave her when he knew she was right and didn't want to admit it and grumbled, "Yeah…well…so…."

"Then again," Harry started, "Malfoy may not of known any different than not getting hugs and affection. His whole family seems pretty cold, that is probably what he is used too." 

"You've got a point there," Hermione said slowly, "That still doesn't excuse it though." 

"You bet it doesn't excuse it!" Ron shouted, "You think I like being bullied by him endlessly just because I was a Weasley or to see my two best friends being constantly pushed around because we are in Gryffindor. It makes me so mad when he calls you mudblood, or when he calls you scar head. I could just hurt him so much." 

Harry and Hermione looked at each other stunned, Ron was never the type to show his emotion like this before. He usually kept his emotions bottled up. Hermione looked up at Ron and noticed that he was kicking the ground and his head was down but his neck was bright red. 

"I didn't mean to go off like that…" Ron muttered

"Don't worry about it," Harry said, "Why don't we go change into our robes, we should be there pretty soon." 

Ron nodded and Hermione grabbed her robes and went to change in the girl's lavatory while the boy's changed in the privacy of their compartment. Forty-five minutes later they arrived in the Hogsmeade train station and then made their to the horseless carriages. 

***

"Can you believe that this is the last time we are going to be entering this hall as students?" Harry asked as they entered the Great Hall. He glanced up at the ceiling and saw the bright stars twinkling down at him. 

"I know, it seems like yesterday we were walking in here for the first time." Hermione said looking at the first years who were noticeably scared. Hermione gave them a warm smile and they took their seats at the Gryffindor table. 

The Sorting Hat went through his usual routine when McGonnagle called out the names of the first years who had identical looks of terror plastered on their faces. 

"Poor little buggers," Ron laughed, "I wonder what their brothers told them they had to do." 

"No idea," Harry said

Hermione shushed them as the ceremony progressed. Ron continued to grumble that the ceremony took too long and that he was starving. Hermione gave him the death glare and continued to look adamantly towards the Sorting Ceremony. 

'Why do Ron and Hermione keep fighting so much?' Harry asked himself, 'I know that they fight a lot but never this much…strange….'

Soon the ceremony had concluded and Hermione was welcoming the new Gryffindor's when Dumbledore rang his glass and the hall went silent. He looked around and smiled warmly, his blue eyes sparkling. "Welcome to Hogwarts! For those new students I know you will have a great time here and will hopefully learn a lot. For those returning students I hope that your days here are happy ones and that you emptied your brains enough so that we can refill them again this year." Everyone chuckled and he continued.

"I have a few start-of-term notices to give out," the hall groaned and Dumbledore chuckled, "Now, now, I have to tell you these otherwise when you break, bend, or otherwise disfigure these rules you can't say, 'Well Professor Dumbledore, I didn't know that we weren't allowed to do that.' so that way I can tell you that I did tell you at the beginning of the year." the children laughed quietly looking at each other.

"Is he always that…what's the word I'm looking for here? Oh yeah, wacky?" a first year, Irish boy asked Harry. 

"Yeah," Harry laughed, "But he is brilliant…you'll learn to love him." 

"I would like to introduce everyone to our new Head Boy and Girl. This years Head Boy will be Peter Desmond from Ravenclaw." 

The hall burst into applause but Ron looked at Harry, "Who is this Peter?" 

"He is the Ravenclaw chaser and captain. He is pretty good actually, must be a good student as well." Harry said looking over at Peter, a good looking blonde boy who was waving at the crowd with his Head Boy badge gleaming under the candle light. 

"Our new Head Girl is Gryffindor's very own, Hermione Granger." Dumbledore said winking at Hermione. 

The Gryffindor table had exploded with applause, Hermione stood up, blushing madly and looking over the hall gave a small wave. Ron and Harry were clapping the loudest and Ron yelled, "That's my friend! That's my friend!"

The hubbub finally subsided when Dumbledore signalled them to, "Yes, I know we are all very pleased to welcome our new Head Girl and Boy. Please, if you see them in the hall be sure and say congratulations, this is an honour that every student at Hogwart's aims for."

Ron snorted along with many other people in the hall and Harry caught Dumbledore's eye, they were twinkling. Hermione had sat down but was still gleaming with pride. "This gives her total gloating rights." Ron muttered to Harry. 

Harry nodded and smiled then whispered back to Ron, "Yeah, but she deserves it, she has worked hard for six years to get this."

"Yeah, yeah," mumbled Ron but Harry stole a glance at him and he was grinning stupidly. 

Soon the feast was over and Hermione was leading the Gryffindor first years up to the common room. They all looked in awe at the moving staircases and living portraits. Nearly Headless Nick made a brilliant entry through a tapestry on the second floor scaring the first years half to death. 

***

Ron, Hermione, and Harry were exhausted by the time they had reached their dorm rooms. They quickly changed into their pyjama's and were soon fast asleep. Harry was too tired to dream but not to tired to have a nightmare….

Authors Note: I hope that you enjoyed the third chapter of Journey Through Your Imagination. I know that things may seem a bit slow here in the beginning but it is all building chapters. Just stick with me and it'll get better…I promise. J Remember; if you want to be reminded when this story is updated just tell me in your review (hint hint…hehe) and give me your e-mail address. I'll add you to my list and then e-mail you when new chapters are updated. Cheers.

Disclaimer: HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia and WARNER BROS.,  
shield logo and related indicia are trademarks of Warner Bros. TM & © 2002.  
Harry Potter Publishing Rights © JK Rowling. 


	4. The Dream

The Dream

_Harry was walking the halls of Hogwarts, except this was a very different Hogwarts then he remembered. The halls were dark and dingy and there was no sound except for the slow but ever constant dripping of some water from the window sill. It was too eerie for Harry, to quiet…something was wrong._

He continued to walk through the halls noticing that all the portraits on the walls had been violently slashed. Suddenly he heard it, it was a faint screaming that sounded like it was coming from the dungeons. Harry started to run except that his feet felt like lead and it was as if he was moving in slow motion. After what seemed like centuries he finally reached the dungeons and slowly opened the door from which the screaming was penetrating. A red headed figure was tied up and screaming. He knew instantly that it was Ginny Weasley though for some reason her face was blurred. He saw Voldemort sitting in the corner twirling his wand between his fingers. 

"So we meet once again…how many times do you need to face me to realise that I will win in the end?" 

Harry was at loss for words, his heart was in his throat and he could not speak.

Voldemort smirked, "So the famous Harry Potter is speechless, well that's okay since your dear little friend is unwilling to talk either, only scream. Oh well, it makes it easier to kill you."

She had abruptly stopped screaming and the silence was deafening. 

Harry tried to make his way over to Ginny to free her, but again his feet felt like they were weighted down with lead and trying to move them would not be humanly possible. He started to panic, looking for a way to escape and take Ginny with him. 

Voldemort seemed to read his mind, "Oh, there is no way out. The windows and doors have disappeared so there is no way for you play the hero this time. You can't win Potter." 

Harry was the one screaming now, but he stopped abruptly like Ginny had done. He didn't have the energy to scream, or to even stand, he collapsed on the ground. He blinked, he was still conscious though, he looked up at Voldemort, he was laughing.

"You really think your going to pull it out don't you? Well sorry but this story doesn't have a happy ending." his laughter was bouncing off the stone walls of the dungeon, ringing in Harry's ears. 

"_AVADA KADAVRA!" Voldemort yelled. A burst of green light erupted from his wand and headed towards Harry with the force of a speeding Hippogriff. _

Harry sat bolt upright, he was sweating and out of breath. The nightmare had been so realistic and so vivid that he was still shuddering after his abrupt awakening. The strangest thing had happened though, his scar wasn't hurting at all and he couldn't remember it burning during the nightmare. He lay back down and closed his eyes but it was a long time before he was able to fall back asleep. 

***

"Can you believe that we have Potions first thing on Monday morning?" Ron complained loudly at the Gryffindor table. They had just received their class schedule and needless to say Ron was less than thrilled about his first period Potions class, "And…it's with the Slytherin's! This will be a lovely occasion." 

Hermione laughed and went back to talking to the third-year Natalie McDonald, to whom Hermione had taken a particular liking to as Natalie was often head of her class and her favourite book was, Hogwarts: A History. 

"What's wrong, mate?" Ron asked noticing his friend's lack of conversational skills this morning

"Nothing I just had a bad dream last night," upon the words leaving Harry's lips, Hermione and Ron swung their heads around to Harry.

"You what?"

"Check the Daily Prophet!" Ron shouted

Harry shook his head slightly while Hermione quickly scanned the cover of the wizard newspaper, "Nothing," she said breathing a sigh of relief

"I knew there wouldn't be," said Harry, "My scar didn't burn during the dream or after." 

"It didn't?" Hermione said in disbelief

"No, that is the oddest part, it seemed like in my dream that I didn't even have a scar since Voldemort didn't mention it once like he normally does." 

"Well tell me more about this dream maybe I can figure out what it means." Hermione said, ending her conversation with Natalie and turning her full attention towards Harry."

Harry explained all about the dream and then added, "And Ginny was in it. She was held captive by Lord Voldemort."

Ginny who had been engrossed in a conversation with her best friend, Elizabeth Paquette, when she heard her name and turned towards Harry. "What about me?"

"Oh nothing," Harry said, "I just had a bad dream and you were in it."

"Oh great!" Ginny said sarcastically, "I just _love_ being the centre of your nightmares." 

Harry tried to laugh but he was still a bit shaken up about the dream. Seeing Ginny in reality was a bit spooky after seeing her in his nightmare. 

"We better head to class soon, we still need to go up and get our books and make it down to the dungeons, plus I'm sure Snape will be in a foul mood so we don't want to be late." 

***

The rest of the week went slowly and without great event, classes dragged on and Harry was beginning to feel restless. It was as if there was something in him was nagging, he felt like he was crawling out of his skin. Finally, the feeling seemed to subside for at least a little bit when the Quidditch season started up again. Their first practice was held on the first weekend. 

"Okay everyone. We going to start with five warm-up laps around the pitch." Harry said to the Gryffindor team. This was his first year as Quidditch captain and he wanted to make everything perfect. 

The six team members clambered onto their brooms and kicked into the air. Dylan Murin, who had taken George's place as beater was the natural leader besides Harry. He quickly was in the front of the line and keeping the rest of the team at a fast yet steady pace. 

Dylan's best friend, Elijah Gaunt, was right behind him. Edging Dylan to go faster. Elijah was also a beater and the two of them together were as good if not better Beaters than the Weasley twins. They too were prankster and like Fred and George they often pulled tricks on the team. Harry laughed slightly and thought to him self that being eccentric must be part of being a Beater, for someone who was quiet and introverted could never do the duty of a good Beater.

Elizabeth Paquette, was next in the line, she was Ginny's best friend and the Gryffindor Chaser. She was a natural beauty and boys often found them selves infatuated with her looks but she was unaware of it. Her grace made her a perfect chaser and she made flying look like an art rather than a sport. 

Hannah McDonald was keeping her place in the middle, who was a second year and got the position of Keeper in a rather unexpected way. While in the hall a Slytherin had attempted to throw a dung bomb into the Gryffindor common room, Hannah, as small as she was somehow managed to stop it. Harry requested her to try-out and she easily beat the competition. 

Harry looked at the rest of the team and noticed Landon Crain. He was a tall and lanky 5th year. He was shy and tended to blend in with the rest of the school and no one really knew who he was. That was until he made the Gryffindor Quidditch team as Chaser. His raw talent was so apparent that girls started to flock towards him. His shyness kept him at bay however and Harry admired him for that. Though quiet normally, at practice he would usually come out of his shell and proved to be quite funny.

Caitlyn Rockwood, was last in the line, what a character. At 13 she was most definitely the wild child of the bunch. Her crazy hair styles and attitude often intimidated many people and even Harry was a little hesitant to put her on the team for fear that she would prove to be irresponsible and lazy. He couldn't excuse her talent as a Chaser and had no choice to give her a position on the team. Though her and Harry sometimes had their outbreaks they dealt fairly well with each other and she was in no way lazy or irresponsible and was actually one of the most dedicated members of the team. 

The team was landing after the warm-up laps and gathered around Harry. 

"Welcome to another year on the Gryffindor team. For some of you this is your first year and others are veterans. I hope that you all do the best that you can do and really get out there and… do the best you can do." Harry said repeating himself and blushing, "Now Gaunt, Murin work on hitting the Bludgers with the best aim you can. Chasers, try working on a couple figuration passing. Hannah, just try and stop them for scoring. Meet back here in 45 minutes." 

"Great pep talk Captain…really inspired me." Caitlyn said sarcastically, winking. 

Harry opened his mouth to reply but closed it again. Caitlyn was right, he needed to get an edge. Oliver Wood, his former Quidditch Captain had been able to get the team motivated without even trying and when he thought back that he probably couldn't of motivated Hermione to study with a pep talk like that. 

***

The fire was crackling in the Gryffindor Common Room and Ron and Harry were engaged in a game of chess while Hermione was studying in her normal chair. 

"Do you think that the new Gryffindor team has as good chance for winning the cup?" Ron asked as he moved his bishop. 

"Yeah," Harry said, "I think we have a pretty good chance. The team started out a little bit slow but I think we are really getting good. Hannah McDonald…you know, our keeper. She is getting really good. She will probably be better than Wood in due time."

Ron gave Harry a surprised look, "Better than Wood?! You've got to be joking."

"No, I'm serious. Come down to practice one night and watch." 

"Okay I'll do that." Ron said, "Check mate!" 

Harry groaned, "You'd think after playing you for seven years I would start to beat you." 

"Yeah, you would think, wouldn't you?" Ron laughed. 

Hermione lifted her face from her book. "Did you say McDonald? As in Natalie McDonald's little sister?" 

"Yeah," Harry said, "Why do you ask?" 

"Well it's just that Natalie hasn't been feeling well lately. I wondered if Hannah knew." 

"Oh I dunno, she hasn't mentioned anything about it." 

"Oh…okay than" Hermione said and continued reading. 

Ron and Harry started another game of Chess while Hermione continued to read. After fifteen minutes someone emerged from the girls dormitory. It was Natalie McDonald, she was staggering down the steps as if her feet were being held down with weights. She walked weakly over to Hermione and spoke quietly, "H-Hermione?" 

Hermione lifted her head and look at Natalie, "Oh! Are you okay?"

"I-I'm not s-sure." She stopped and then started again, "I don't f-feel we-well."

"Well just sit down for a little bit." Hermione said concerned. Harry and 

Ron looked up at her.

"She doesn't look so good does she?" Ron whispered to Harry. 

Natalie walked, wobbling, over to the chair when suddenly she collapsed in a dead faint.

Authors Note: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, this is the beginning of where it starts to get better, more action, more suspense, more of what Harry Potter is really about. I'm sorry I haven't posted this in a few weeks but I've been terribly busy with homework and all that other fun stuff. I might post the fifth chapter tonight as well or before Friday because I have a swim competition on Friday so there will definitely be one before then. Enjoy! 

Disclaimer: HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia and WARNER BROS.,  
shield logo and related indicia are trademarks of Warner Bros. TM & © 2002.  
Harry Potter Publishing Rights © JK Rowling.   


__


	5. Organessen

Organessen

"Natalie!" Hermione screeched and rushed to Natalie's side. "Natalie, wake up!" 

Harry and Ron looked up in surprise at the sound of Hermione's voice. 

"What happened?" Ron asked as he quickly kneeled beside Natalie as well and felt her pulse. 

"I dunno," Hermione said in a panic, "She was standing there, trying to walk over to the chair because she didn't feel well. Then she just…collapsed." 

"Well, she is still breathing that's good but we should probably get her up to the hospital wing." Ron said. 

Hermione conjured up a stretcher and Ron lifted Natalie's limp body onto it. Hermione led the way out of the common room and to the Hospital Wing while Ron and Harry followed silently behind. The castle was dark and the shadows bounced off the walls, the only light came from the torches that were lit along the corridors. 

The door that lead into the infirmary was ajar and Harry held it open while Hermione and Ron walked through. Madam Pomfrey was sitting at her desk reading Witch Weekly with a single candle lit. She looked up from her magazine and saw Natalie on the stretcher and quickly got up and ran over.

"What happened?" she asked concerned. 

"She collapsed, we were in the common room and she came down the stairs and told me she felt ill. I told her to sit down and she collapsed." Hermione said, her voice shaking. 

"We'd better get her into a bed." the nurse said and they silently got her on top of a nearby bed.

"Would it be better if we left?" Hermione asked

Madam Pomfrey considered the three thoughtfully then nodded, "Yes, I think that would be best. I will let you know in the morning on the status of Ms. McDonalds health."

"Will she be okay?" Ron asked

"I would think so, it is probably a severe case of influenza, like I said, I will inform you tomorrow. Goodnight." she said.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron quietly left the wing and silently walked back up to the Gryffindor common room and went to bed. 

***

The following morning was uneventful as the school ate their breakfast. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were talking quietly about Natalie.

"I hope she is doing better," Hermione said as she sipped on her orange juice. 

"I'm sure she's fine, like Madam Pomfrey said it's probably just the flu or a stomach bug or something." Ron said.

"Well lets go up at break and see her," said Hermione.

***

History of magic was particularly boring that morning, Professor Binns was lecturing on the Saudi Arabian wars that had taken place in the last century, "The Arab-wizards were one of the first countries to declare war on the English wizarding world. Sour from trading deals that left them short handed the Arabs have waged war against the English community." 

The class yawned and many were already in deep slumber, including Ron.

"Since the defeat of their leader, Ramzi al-Shehhi, in 1933 the two countries have been unable to make any kind of peace agreement and to this day still rival." the ghost went on. 

Ron was snoring rather loudly by this point and Harry had to punch him in the arm to wake him. Five minutes later the bell rang signalling the end of class and start of break. Harry, Ron, and Hermione pushed pass the crowd of people and headed for the Hospital Wing. 

When they arrived they saw Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey conversing in quiet voices around Natalie McDonald's bed. She appeared to still be unconscious. 

Hermione asked timidly, "Madam Pomfrey?" 

The woman looked at Hermione then questioned, "Yes, Ms. Granger?" 

"We wanted to see how Natalie was. You told up to come back today." 

"Yes, yes I did. Well I'm sorry to say that Natalie isn't very well. She still hasn't awoken, not even with my reviving spells and potions. I can't seem to figure out what is the matter. Her vital signs seem to be in tact yet she won't awake. Even Professor Dumbledore tried countless times, though to no avail."

Ron gulped, "So what are you going to do?" 

The nurse sighed, "There's not much we can do until she wakes up or until she shows other symptoms." 

Harry who was looking at Natalie's left arm spoke, "Erm…Professor?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"What is on her arm? It looks like a red rash of some sort." 

Madam Pomfrey bent down to look at Natalie's arm when suddenly she stood upright, her hand over her mouth. "Albus, look at her arm! Look at her arm!" 

Dumbledore bent down to examine and within minutes stood up as well. He did not gasp as Madam Pomfrey had but he had a look of solemn on his face Harry had seen few times before. "I am afraid Poppy, it is what you fear." 

"But how? There hasn't been a case reported in over fifty years, how could this happen?" 

"I really can't say. It must've come outside of the school, it's the only way." 

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood at the edge of Natalie's bed dumbfounded. Even Hermione seemed lost. Ron soon spoke up, "What do you mean there hasn't been a case in over fifty years?" 

Albus turned to look at the three, "I can't hide it from you now, not after you've seen and I rather you find out from me." he paused and continued, "Natalie is suffering from Organessen…"

"Organ-what?" Ron interrupted loudly. Hermione elbowed him hard in the side. 

"Organessen, it is a disease that was sent out by a curse. That is all I will say for now since we are unsure about her level of the disease." he turned to Hermione, "I will keep in contact with you so that you may inform your house." Hermione nodded. 

The three left the infirmary more confused than when they had entered.

"Do you know what he was talking about…Organissan or whatever he called it," Ron asked.

"Organessen." Hermione corrected him, "I have no idea we should go to the library after dinner and see what we can find out." 

The three agreed and they headed towards their Defence Against the Dark Arts class with their new professor, Lan Trebuchet.

They entered the classroom and took their seat as the bell rang. Professor Trebuchet was already there leaning against his desk. The professor was a tall, muscular man, he was in his mid-forties but that didn't stop him from being on top of everything that happened in the class. A former Auror and alumni of Hufflepuff house he was the type of teacher that didn't take any crap yet the students loved him all the same. Even Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins could not find fault in the wizard as he treated every student the same and awarded points to each house fairly. On the first day of class he had told them about himself, they were awed by him being an Auror. When he told them he had resided in Hufflepuff house the class of Gryffindor's and Slytherins had looked astonished. The professor had caught on.

"You think because I was Hufflepuff I couldn't amount to anything. Let me tell you once and for all. It doesn't matter what house your in, you can be anything you want to. Just because I was in Hufflepuff doesn't mean that I am any better or worse then any of you. I don't care what house your from. Your all wizards but most importantly you are all humans." 

He then turned and walked over to his desk reading the Defence Against the Dark Arts text book while the class sat there unsure of what to say. That had been the first day and since then no one had dared to bring up houses again.

"Good afternoon, today I am going to be teaching you the complex technique of blocking a curse disease." he looked around at the blank faces then continued, "Can anyone tell me what a curse disease is?" 

Hermione as usual raised her hand, "A curse disease is simply a disease sent out by a person or persons by way of curse."

"Perfect, three points to Gryffindor." he continued, "They can range from a simple case of the sniffles to an epidemic outbreak. Does anyone know who invented the curse disease?"

Draco Malfoy's hand shot up in the air quickly, "Fredrick Catherwood,"

"Correct, three points to Slytherin," Ron scowled and the professor continued, "Fredrick was a mean man. There just wasn't too much one could boast about this guy. He was unmarried, lived by himself, didn't have that many friends and just wasn't really the type of person you would want to sit down and have tea with." the class laughed.

"He invented the curse because he wanted to get back at one of his enemies for destroying his garden. He wanted to find a way to give this man a case of measles without him knowing so he sent it by way of air. His enemy actually ended up dying of complications due to the measles. Instead of Fredrick stopping there he decided to do this to a lot of other people and wrote down the curse in one of his many journals. When he was finally caught for doing these awful things the Ministry of Magic threw him in Azkaban and seized all of his assets. Including those journals of his. They read them and found out about the curse diseases and thought to themselves, 'Well, this could be good to use on Dark Wizards and such.' Little did they know, by sending the curse over to them, the Dark Wizards were able to deconstruct the curse and find out how to perform it and that's why we have curse diseases today." 

Ron raised his hand and spoke, "So basically we now have this way of harming and killing people all because some journal writing bloke was mad about someone messing up his garden?!" 

Even the Professor had to smile slightly, "Yeah, gardens can do funny things to people.

"However, getting down to business I'm going to teach you how to block simple curse diseases today. Curse diseases are usually sent from far away and usually hit a large target such as a location rather than a certain person but since I'll be demonstrating on you today it will be aimed for you alone."

The class looked slightly frightened and Neville whispered to Hermione, "You don't think he going to put a bad disease on us do you?" 

Professor Trebuchet answered his question, "I will only be demonstrating using a sneezing curse disease on you." Neville looked relieved, "Now the way you ward off a curse disease is to draw a circle in the air around you while saying the incantation: Quartiere Fuori. 

While you say the incantation you must picture in your mind that your body is completely healthy. If you don't the counter-curse will not work. Since most people do not know when they are going to have a curse disease sent to them it is best to perform it every three days to make sure you are immune to all air born attacks."

The class each performed the incantation and Professor Trebuchet in turn sent a curse disease at them. Almost everyone repelled it except for Neville who had pictured that he was sneezing when he said the spell that he had such a violent sneezing fit that the Professor had to give him a Pepper up potion which stopped them instantly though Neville was smoking at the ears for the rest of the day. 

By the end of class Ron, Harry, and Hermione had almost forgotten about Natalie and the Organessen disease when Hermione suddenly remembered that she had left a book of hers in the Hospital Wing. They walked back up to the infirmary and were amazed by what they saw.

Authors Notes: I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter. It took me quite awhile to write from some reason unapparent to me. In case you were wondering, Quartiere Fuori is Italian for: "ward off." and Organessen is German for: "organ eating." That is all you get to know. Again I hope you enjoyed it and had a good St. Valentines Day. 

Disclaimer: HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia and WARNER BROS.,  
shield logo and related indicia are trademarks of Warner Bros. TM & © 2002.  
Harry Potter Publishing Rights © JK Rowling. 


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